• by Paul Gough , December 29, 2003

Online spending continued its roll as the holidays drew to a close, racking up $15.8 billion in sales through Dec. 19, said Nielsen//NetRatings.

Nielsen//NetRatings' latest eSpending report, released Monday afternoon, said that online holiday shopping had peaked in the second week of December. The study is conducted with Goldman Sachs and Harris Interactive.

The $15.8 billion was up 37 percent from the same period last year. The spending data doesn't include travel.

But during the period of the report, between Dec. 13 and Dec. 19, consumers spent $2.8 billion online. That's down a bit from the $2.95 billion that Nielsen//NetRatings estimated consumers spent the week before. Analysts said it could be attributed to the shipping deadlines beginning to pass.

The most popular categories through Dec. 19, according to Nielsen//NetRatings' eSpending report, were:

-- Apparel: $3.1 billion, up 40 percent over 2002.

-- Toys/Video Games (hardware and software): $1.9 billion, up 21 percent.

-- Video/DVD: $1.4 billion, up 58 percent.

-- Books: $1.4 billion, up 39 percent.

-- Music: $790 million, up 20 percent.